Yesavage sets World Series rookie record with 12 Ks in Game 5

The legend of Trey Yesavage continued to grow in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday.

Yesavage struck out a World Series rookie-record 12 Los Angeles Dodgers batters in Game 5, breaking the old mark set by Dodgers great Don Newcombe in Game 1 of the 1949 Fall Classic. He and Newcombe are the only rookie pitchers to log double-digit strikeouts in a World Series game.

The Toronto Blue Jays right-hander set the new record with a seventh-inning strikeout of Freddie Freeman on a splitter.

"When that splitter is on, he's going to make anyone in the game look stupid," Blue Jays veteran Max Scherzer said, according to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun.

Yesavage is the 12th pitcher to record 12-plus strikeouts in a World Series game, and the first since the Yankees' Orlando Hernández in 2000, per Stathead. He's one of just five pitchers to do it in the last 50 years. His 12 Ks without a walk also set a new single-game World Series mark, surpassing Newcombe in '49 and Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the 2017 edition.

10+ Ks, 0 BBs in a World Series game

The 22-year-old also established a new World Series record for pitchers aged 22 or under, breaking Smoky Joe Wood's record from Game 1 of the 1912 Fall Classic.

"He was pretty good. Historic stuff, when you talk about that stage. ... (His) slider and split were electric," manager John Schneider said after the Blue Jays' 6-1 win, according to Sportsnet's Blake Murphy. "Kinda blown away by what he did."

Game 5 marked Yesavage's second playoff start with double-digit strikeouts following his 11-K performance in Game 2 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees. He's the first rookie with multiple 10-strikeout games in playoff history, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

Yesavage joined the legendary Sandy Koufax - who was in attendance at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday - as just the second pitcher to rack up 10-plus strikeouts in the first five innings of a World Series game, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

Yesavage, who started his 2025 season in Single-A, now owns a 3.55 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over five postseason starts. His 39 strikeouts are a new single-postseason rookie record, eclipsing Michael Wacha's 34 in 2013.

Wednesday marked the eighth big-league start of Yesavage's career and his first road start of these playoffs. The 2024 first-round pick started his season in Single-A, and pitched at every minor-league level before getting called up to the majors in mid-September.

"It's a crazy world," Yesavage said, according to Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith. "Hollywood couldn't have made it this good."